Apparatus for stenciling articles



M ay'12, 1942. D. e. REMPEL 2,282,609

APPARATUS FOR STENCILING ARTICLES Filed April 17, 1940 Patented May 12,1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

2,282,609 I APPARATUS FOR STENCILIN G ARTICLES Dietrich G. Rempel,Barberton, ,0hio,- assignor to The Sun Rubber m a ccrporation of OhioApplication April 17, 1940, S crial' No. 330,100

9 Claims. (Q1. 101 114)' This invention relates to apparatus forstenciling articles, such as toys, rubber character dolls, balls, or thelike, and in particular, relates to apparatus for stenciling sucharticles with paint.

,tively small degree of skill to operate.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide such apparatus in whichis minimized the damage caused by smearing or marking the articles inpositioning the same in or removing them from the stenciling mask.

These and other objects of the invention will be manifest from thefollowing brief description and the accompanying drawing.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the stenciling apparatus embodying theinvention.

Figure 2 is a cross-section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-section taken on line 3-3 of Figures 1 and 4.

Figure 4 is a cross-section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken on line 55 of Figure 3. v 7

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 10 designates a postor supportsecured in upright position on atable or work bench I I, as by means ofa clamping device I2 fixed on the lower end of said post. J ournalled inthe upper end of post I0, to rotate on a horizontal axis, may be a shaftI3 which carries sectional stenciling mask units, indicated generally atI4.

The unit I4 may comprise a pair of relatively movable registering masksections I5 and I6, having secured thereto arms I! and I8, adapted to beremovably and replaceably received in sockets I9 and 20 of a pair ofrelatively movable supporting members 2i and 22, respectively, said armsI! and I8 being held in fixed relation in said sockets by means of thumbscrews 23, 23. The supporting member 2| may be fixedly mounted on afluid-pressure operated cylinder 24 carried by rotatable shaft I3, saidcylinder being arranged with the longitudinal axis thereof transverselyof the axis of the shaft I3. Extending from one end of the cylinder 24may be av piston rod 25 of a piston 25*, the outer end of which rod isconnected to an outwardly extending'angular portion 26 of supportingmember 22. A rod 28 pany, Barberton, Ohio,

fixed at one end to the extension 26 of member 22 extends in parallelwith the axis of cylinder 24, as guided by being slidably received in asleeve 29 fixed on the cylinder 24, whereb-ythe rod 28 will preventrelative rotation of the member 22 about the axis of I the cylinder inall radially adjusted positions of member 22 toward and from therelatively fixed member 2|. The various parts of the unit I4 arearranged so that the mask sections I5 and I6 will rotate insubstantiallybalanced condition about the axis of the shaft I3 when said masksections are in registering relation. A reduced extension (may beprovided on shaft I3 at the side of the post I 0 opposite from the maskunit I4, to which extension is secured a crank handle 32 for manuallyrotating the shaft l3 carrying the mask unit I4.

For operating the fluid-pressure cylinder 24 to move the mask section I6from and toward mask section I5, conduits 33 and 34 secured to thecylinder may extend from opposite ends thereof to communicate withpassages 35 and 36 formed in the shaft I3, which in turn communicateswith apair of annular grooves 31 and 38, respectively,

in shaft I3, these grooves being closed to the exterior by thebearingsurface in post I0 for shaft I3. Arranged in the post I0 tocommunicate with the groove's'31 and 38 in all rotatedpositions of theshaft I3, maybe passages 39 and 40, respectively, which extenddownwardly to the inner end of a bore in the rear face of the post I0.Mounted in the bore 4l may-be a rotatable disc 42, having openings 43and 44 arranged to communicate with the passages 39 and 40,respectively, by rotation of the disc "42,: the arrangement being suchthat the disc may Q be rotated in one direction or the other tocommunicate either the passage 39 or the passage 40 with a chamber 4 Ilocated between the outer face of the disc 42 and a plug 45threadedinthe bore 4|; The chamber 4| may connect with a suitable source offluid-pressure supply (not shown), through a suitable conduit 46 (seeFigure 3). For rotating the disc 42 to control cylinder 24, a pin 41integral with the disc is rotatably received forwardly through the postI0 and has fixed on the outer end thereof a control lever 48-. Spacedstop-pins 49, 49 are provided on the front face of post It! to beengaged by thelever for limiting the rotation of disc 42 between thepositions in which a chamber 4| communicates either withp-assage 39,through the opening 43 in the disc, orwith the passage 40, through theopening 44 in -the disc, to supply fluid-pressure to one end or theother of cylinder 24, as desired when the lever 48 is in the full-lineposition shown in Figures 1 and 4, fluid-pressure from conduit 45 willpass through opening 43 in disc 42, communicating through passage 39with grooves 31 in the shaft l3, and thence, through passage 35 andconduit 34, with the outer end of cylinder 24 to urge the piston 25*-thereof inwardly, thereby maintaining the-fmask sections in closedregistering relation, as shown in Figure 1. The other end of thecylinder is at the same time exhausted through conduit 33, passage andannular groove 38 in shaft l3, passage 40 in the post, arcuate groove indisc 42, and thence through the outlet 5i to the atmosphere. Conversely,for opening the mask sections, lever 48 is movedto the chain-dottedposition shown in Figures 1 and 4, thereby to communicate the inner endof cylinder 24 with the source of fluidpressuresupply through conduit33, passage 35 in the shaft l3, annular groove 38, passage 4|] in thepost, opening 34 in the disc 32, the outer end of the cylinder thenbeing exhausted through the other connecting passages communicating witharcuate groove 50, and outlet 5|, whereby piston 25 is actuated to movethe mask sections I5 and may be located at a plurality of stations forperforming various coloring operations on character dolls, for example.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1 1. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a unit rotatable aboutan axis, said unit including a pair of stenciling mask sections, meansfor mounting said mask sections to be relatively shiftable from andtoward each other in parallelismsubstantially radially of said axis,means for rotating said unit about said axis, and means operable at willfor shifting said mask sections toward and from each other, said unitthereby being rotatable about said axis to expose various openings inthe mask sections for reception of I8 apartradially of the axis ofrotation of the unit.

In the operation of the apparatus the operator, by means of a handle 32,rotates the unit M to the position thereof shown in Figure 1, and thenmoves the lever 48 to the chain-dotted positionthereof shown in Figures1 and 4, thereby actuating the cylinder 24 to move the mask section I6to the chain-dotted position shown in Figure 1, in which position anarticle A may be inserted in the cavity of the lower mask section l5.,When the article is in position, the operator may then shift the lever48 back to the full-line position shown in Figures 1 andfl, therebyactuatingthe cylinder as described to move the mask section l5 towardregistering relation with the masksection l5 about the article A, asshown in'full-lines in Figure 1. The parallel movement of the section |6radially oftheaxis of rotation of the unit will 1 minimize frictionalengagement with thearticle during the closing movements of said masksection, thereby materially reducing the danger of smearing the freshlypainted c e I .5 c.

When the articles are positioned in the mask unit, the operator thenturns the crank 32 with one hand to rotate the mask unit l4, the otherhand being used to handle a spray gun of known type for applying paintspray through the open ings l4, l4 in the mask sections.

The apparatus shown and described is simple to operate, the operatorusing one hand to manipulate the spray gun (not shown), while the otherhand is used to operate lever 48 for moving the mask sections from andtoward each other. Thus one hand may be kept relatively clean forpositioningthe articles in and removing them from the mask sections, itbeing unnecessary for the operator tohandle the mask sections, which areusually coated withlubricating materials to permit ready removal ofpaint spray from the outer surfaces thereof.

It is understood that a numbergof units i4 1 a spray of paint or thelike onto an article received between said sections.

a '2. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a unit rotatableabout, a substantially horizontal axis, said unit including a pair ofstenciling mask sections, means for mounting said mask sections to berelatively shiftable from and toward each other substantially radiallyof said axis in parallelism, means for rotating said unit about saidaxis, and means operable at will for shifting said mask sections towardand from each other in parallelism, said unit thereby being rotatableabout said axis to expose various openings in the mask sectionsforreception of a' spray of paint or the like onto an article receivedbetween said sections.

.3. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a support, a unitmounted. on said support to rotate about a horizontal axis, meansoperable for rotating said unit, said unit including a pair of masksections shiftable from and toward each other radially of said axis, andpower means carried by said rotatable unit operable at will to shiftsaid mask sections toward and from re istering relation about an articlereceived between the same, said unit being rotatable to expose variousopenings in the'mask sections for reception of a spray of paint or thelike onto an article received between said sections.

4. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a support, a unitmounted on said support to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis,means for rotating said unit about said axis, said unit including a pairof mask sections shiftable from and toward each other radially of saidaxis, and power means carried bysaid rotatable unit operable to shiftsaid mask sections in parallelism toward and from registering relationabout an article received between the same, said unit being rotatable toexpose various openings in the mask sections for reception of a spray ofpaint or the like onto an article received between said sections.

5. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a support, a unitrotatably mounted on said support to rotate about a substantiallyhorizontal axis, means for rotating said unit about said axis, said unitincluding a pair of mask sections shiftable from and toward each otherradially of said axis, means carried by said rotatable unit operablerat-will to shift said mask sections towardlike onto an article receivedbetween said sections.

6. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a support, a unitmounted on said support to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis,means for rotating said unit about said axis, said unit including a pairof relatively shiitable mask sections, means carried by said rotatableunit operable to shift said mask sections in parallelism toward and fromregistering relation about an article received between the same, andcooperating means on said rotatable unit and said support for operatingsaid shifting means, said unit being rotatable to expose variousopenings in the mask sections for reception of a spray of paint or thelike onto an article received between said sections.

'7. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a relatively fixedsupport, a unit rotatably mounted on said support at one side of thesupport, said unit including a pair of relatively shiftable registeringmask sections, means for rotating said unit on said support, meanscarried by said rotatable unit for shifting said mask sections towardand from registering relation about an article to be stenciled, andcooperating means on said rotatable unit and said relatively fixed.support for operating said shifting means.

8. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a relatively fixedsupport, a unit rotatably mounted on said support at one side thereof,said unit including a pair of relatively shiftable registering masksections, means for rotating said unit on said support, fluid-pressuremeans carried by said rotatable unit for shifting said mask sections inparallelism toward and from registering relation about an article to bestenciled, and cooperating means on said rotatable unit and said supportconnected to a source of fluid pressure for operating said shiftingmeans.

9. Apparatus for stenciling articles comprising a support, a unitmounted in'said support to rotate about a substantially horizontal axis,said unit including a pair of relatively shiftable registering masksections, means for rotating said unit on said support, and meansrotatable with said rotatable unit and operable at will for shiftingsaid mask sections in parallelism radially of said horizontal axistoward and from registering relation about an article to be stenciled.

DIETRICH G. REMPEL.

